Farewell to Surrealism: The Dyn Circle in Mexico

In 1939, three artists, Wolfgang Paalen (Austrian, 1905-1959), Alice Rahon (French, 1904-1987), and Eva Sulzer (Swiss, 1902-1990), left Paris to explore the pre-Columbian ruins of the Pacific Northwest and Mexico. They remained in Mexico, becoming part of an international group of surrealist artists and writers who settled in Mexico City during the 1940s.

These artists—haunted by the Second World War, inspired by science, and seduced by archaeological discoveries—defined a new direction for their art. In dialogue with and in opposition to their surrealist colleagues in New York, they also created a journal called Dyn. From 1942 to 1944, six issues of Dyn were published and distributed in New York, London, Paris, and Mexico City. The journal included the work of avant-garde writers, painters, and photographers, as well as scholarly contributions by anthropologists and archaeologists.

On view October 2, 2012 through February 17, 2013 at the Getty Center (Los Angeles, USA) Farewell to Surrealism: The Dyn Circle in Mexico features paintings, photographs, drawings, letters, ephemera and other objects from more than a dozen artists and writers connected with Dyn, including  Paalen, Rahon, Sulzer, as well as Manual Alvarez Bravo (Mexican, 1902-2002), Miguel Covarrubius  (Mexican, 1904-1957), Gordon Onslow Ford (English, 1912-2003), Doris Heyden (American, 1915-2005), Robert Motherwell (American, 1915-1991), César Moro (Peruvian, 1903-1956), Rosa Rolando (American, 1985-1970), and others.

Dates: from October 2 to February 17.
Location: The Getty Center. 1200 Getty Center Drive, Los Angeles, California. USA.
Opening hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday from 10am to 5.30pm.  Saturday from 10am to 9pm.